North Dakota State Athletics
11-10, 6-4
Centenary
1-19, 0-9
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Dakota State | 25 | 42 | 67 |
| Centenary | 30 | 31 | 61 |
Samuelson, Zaruba Lead North Dakota State to 67-61 Comeback Win Over Centenary
1/30/2010 7:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball
SHREVEPORT, La.--Ashley Samuelson scored a career-high 22 points and Jill Zaruba pulled down a career best 17 rebounds as North Dakota State rallied past Centenary College 67-61 in a Summit League women's basketball game played Saturday, Jan. 30, before 397 fans in the Gold Dome.
North Dakota State (11-9, 6-4 Summit) is scheduled to play at Oral Roberts University (14-7, 8-2 Summit) at 7:05 p.m., Monday, Feb. 1 in Tulsa. Oral Roberts defeated South Dakota State 86-75 on Saturday.
Centenary College (1-20, 0-10 Summit) made it intesteresting to the end, but the Bison received contributions from many in coming back from a 30-25 halftime deficit. The game was tied seven times and the lead changed hands on five occasions in each half.
Ashley Jackson made one of two free throws to give Centenary a 54-53 lead with 3:26. Jackson led the Ladies with 14 points.
However, North Dakota State closed the game with a 14-8 run. Zaruba hit a layup after grabbing an offensive rebound at the 2:52 mark to give the Bison the lead for good. Katie Birkel came up with a steal and a score to make it 57-54.
Zaruba's rebound total included seven offensive caroms. The Bison outrebounded Centenary 45-30 including 18 offensive boards.
Zaruba hit 7 of 8 free throws for 11 points to record her fourth career double-double. North Dakota State received 21 points off the bench led by Zaruba's 11 and eight from Inger Hodgson.
A pair free of throws from Bethany Joseph cut the NDSU lead to 57-56 with 1:20 remaining, but Birkel drove to the bucket for two to extend the margin to 59-56 with 1:02 left.
The Bison made 8 of 8 from the free throw line in the game's final 42.5 seconds as Abby Plucker, Zaruba and Birkel each connected to close out the win. NDSU made 15 of 17 from the foul line for 88.2 percent, while Centenary hit 23 of 28 attempts for 82.1 percent.
North Dakota State made 37.5 percent from the field including four three-pointers in the second half compared to 35.4 percent for Centenary.
Samuelson scored 10 of the first 12 points in the first half to keep North Dakota State close. Samuelson scored 12 of her career best 22 points in a closely contested opening period.
Samuelson, who made 9 of 13 her field goal attempts, reached double-figures for the 11th time this season and 20th game of her career.
Joseph hit a jumper with 7:32 left to break a 19-19 tie as Centenary would build a 30-23 with 1:40 left in the first half. Joseph, who added a pair of three-pointers, and Vashni Sharp Moore each scored eight of their final 12 points in the opening period.
